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April 19, 2007
Lord knows what she'll pick up in preschool
Jamie's Tae Kwon Do class has gown by leaps and bounds. I think there may be 7 or 8 kids now, if they all came at the same time. Every last one of them is more rambunctious than Jamie, although a couple of them are close to her level. Several of them are so hyper they make Jack Russell terriers look laid back.
I remember when Jamie was the only student in the class, I told the teacher that one of the reasons we signed up was so that Jamie would get exposure to other kids. You know, learn the things you learn from other kids, like sharing and taking turns and standing in line. Those first, solo lessons were nice, though. Peaceful, educational. Then a few more kids joined, and things were slightly less peaceful, but still educational. And she had to take turns!
Then the real trouble joined. They are so hyper that they have to be constantly reprimanded. They distract. Several of them often arrive a couple minutes late, breaking into class. Their parents rarely stay to help crack the whip. I, on the other hand, am losing my shyness about yelling at other people's kids. And while Jamie is learning to handle herself around all kinds of kids, she's also picking up some of their less desirable behaviors.
I understand that one of the reasons parents put their kids into a class like this is to learn discipline and control. It's one of the reasons I put Jamie in the class, although her lacks in those areas manifest differently, and are less pronounced. I sometimes wonder, though, if these kids are chipping away at the discipline and control she already has.
There are still a lot of plusses to her attending. She's learning a skill. She's learning to deal with groups of kids, many very different from herself. She's getting exercise and out of the house. And I think she genuinely likes it.
And so we go.
Posted by me at April 19, 2007 9:11 PM